NRPA Partnerships

People. Parks. Planet.

The Case for the National Recreation and Park Association

A Lifeline for You …

Parks and recreation centers offer a crucial lifeline to people, providing spaces and pathways to physical, mental, social, emotional and spiritual well-being.

It’s especially true in times of need. Throughout the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic and as we recover, people have used parks and recreation at record rates to stay healthy, connect with others, be in nature and seek refuge. Parks provide powerful protection to our communities in the face of climate-related disasters. And they bring people together during challenging times to strengthen the community.

… And Needed by Millions More

Nearly 100 million people in the United States — 28 million of them children — don’t have easy access to a quality park or recreation center, one that’s within a 10-minute walk. And communities with lower income and higher percentage of people of color have smaller parks that are more crowded and are less likely to have even one recreational facility in their community.

At the National Recreation and Park Association (NRPA), we will not rest until everyone has a lifeline to the healing power of parks and recreation.

1 https://www.tpl.org/10minutewalk

Our Mission At the National Recreation and Park Association, our mission is to advance parks, recreation and environmental conservation efforts that enhance the quality of life for all people.

“Because everyone deserves a great park.”

And you can make that happen.

Supporting People, Parks and Planet In the face of climate change, racial reckoning and health crises, 165,0001 park and recreation professionals working in 10,0002 local park agencies and 105,0002 close-to-home parks are stepping up in remarkable ways.

Park and recreation professionals are acknowledging the past and rectifying systemic inequities, transforming parks and recreation into crucial hubs for health and emergency services and adapting parks to withstand and even battle climate change in ways that protect our people and planet.

With your philanthropic support, we can build a movement that elevates and invests in close-tohome parks and recreation and the professionals who make these places thrive. Together, we can create strong, healthy, and more equitable and resilient communities for everyone.

Investment Opportunities: Be a Health Hero Goal: $7.3 Million Over Three Years 1 https://www.census.gov/programs-surveys/apes/data/datasetstables.html 2 https://www.nrpa.org/our-work/building-a-movement/parks-and-recreation-is-essential/ 3 https://www.nrpa.org/publications-research/park-pulse/the-essential-need-for-parks/

Advancing Community Health and Well-Being The social determinants of health — the conditions where people live, learn, work and play — have a huge effect on health, wellness and quality of life. Increasingly, park and recreation spaces and professionals are serving as stewards of Community Wellness Hubs: • Supporting physical and mental health and connecting people to vital health services and resources. Eighty-three percent of U.S. adults say parks and recreation is essential to their physical and mental health.3 • Supporting child development, often serving as trusted mentors and providing high-quality learning opportunities through out-of-school programs, including youth sports.

• Increasing food security, serving millions of meals and providing nutrition education each year.

• Serving as adaptable infrastructure in times of need, becoming testing and vaccine sites during the pandemic, sheltering displaced community members during disasters, and transforming into virtual learning centers for students unable to access school from home.

To build on the innovative and heroic work that park and recreation professionals do to address these conditions, we need you to:

By 2026, park and recreation Community Wellness Hubs improve the health and well-being of children and adults by increasing equitable access to healthy food, physical activity and mental, social and behavioral health programming.

750,000 community members have increased access to healthy food.

25 million meals are served at park and recreation sites.

• Build the capacity of park and recreation professionals to pilot and scale meal programs and farmers markets in food deserts and programs that help people manage chronic disease and train youth coaches in trauma-informed care.

150,000 people in underresourced communities improve food security, emotional health and quality of life.

• Implement evidence-based, community-driven and culturally relevant youth mentoring to support social-emotional health and programming for older adults that advance healthy aging and reduce isolation.

7 in 10 agencies manage farmers markets or community gardens.

• Fund projects to address health inequities and support physical and mental health in neighborhoods with high rates of chronic diseases, food insecurity, and mental health and behavioral health issues.

4 in 5 agencies offer evidencebased chronic disease and mental and behavioral health programming and connections to services, including youth mentoring programs.

• Increase public investments in park and recreation programs and services that advance health outcomes and overall wellbeing.

6 in 10 agencies offer intergenerational activities.

7 in 10 agencies enact equitable fee structures, so all youth can play sports.

Help and Health Through Parks: A Pandemic Success Story In Los Angeles, the confluence of COVID-19 and the racial justice awakening in 2020 sparked a remarkable initiative by Los Angeles County Parks and Recreation (LACPR). The agency placed equity at the center of its response, focusing especially on communities of color, which were disproportionately impacted by COVID-19 — and which often lack easy access to quality parks or green spaces.

The agency distributed food, provided COVID-19 testing sites, created 24 shelters for people experiencing homelessness, provided air-conditioned centers during hot summer days, and increased emergency day-camp and childcare programs for essential workers.

That summer, LACPR provided more than 84,000 lunches and snacks to youth. During the summer and fall, partnering with the Los Angeles Food Bank, LACPR conducted 20 food distribution events at parks, providing a week’s worth of food to 28,420 households.

“Our mission — to serve as stewards of parkland, build healthy and resilient communities and advance social equity and cohesion — has come to life in a deeper way,” says LACPR Director Norma García.

Your investment in parks and recreation is the lifeline that links communities to enhanced health and well-being.

Placing Equity at the Center Park and recreation professionals have a unique set of skills acquired and honed through training, certification, accreditation, work and lived experiences. They care for the places and spaces that connect communities, build bridges between people and showcase the beauty of our nation’s people, cultures and landscapes.

Yet, systemic racism and exclusion have created vast disparities in communities nationwide, limiting who can easily access and feel welcome in these places.

NRPA and park and recreation professionals are creating accessible, welcoming park and recreation systems that foster a sense of belonging for people of all races, abilities and socioeconomic backgrounds.

Investment Opportunities: Be an Equity Champion Goal: $10.3 Million Over Three Years

Understanding and acknowledging our past and current practices, policies and beliefs are crucial to advancing future equity in parks and recreation.

With your support, we will provide resources and training for park and recreation professionals on core diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) principles: • Develop “Equity in Practice” skill-building, so park and recreation professionals can engage respectfully and authentically with all community members and create inclusive and relevant programs and spaces.

• Bring data into decision making, tools and funding, so park and recreation professionals invest in neighborhoods and programs that address historical inequities and close gaps in access.

• Increase equitable opportunities and participation in programming that connect people to nature and get them active through sports.

By 2026, park and recreation agencies are welcoming of and equitably serving diverse communities.

5 in 10 park and recreation agencies have implemented a formal DEI assessment.

3 in 10 agencies incorporate DEI in planning policies.

25 percent of agencies incorporate DEI in funding/ investment policies.

One-quarter of agencies collect participant demographic data to understand the youth served and identify gaps.

Equity at Work. Birds — and People — at Play.

In the historic Rondo neighborhood of Saint Paul, Minnesota, a transformed, art-driven playground symbolizes renewed hope and joy to area children and families.

Nestled between apartment buildings that house many immigrant and refugee families from Mexico, Somalia, South African nations and Southeast Asia, the neighborhood’s Western Sculpture Park has long drawn residents of all ages to gather and play. But after years of use, the park — especially the 26-year-old play area — was overdue for an update.

The new design, created during the height of the pandemic, features bright colors, a flourishing maple tree, playground equipment that accommodates children of diverse abilities, and — most notably — a “flock” of three large, colorful bird sculptures titled “Birds at Play.”

The design was developed and executed by local artists in response to children’s ideas. At the community dedication of the new play space, one neighborhood boy chirped, “This just makes me feel happy!”

The renovations at Western Sculpture Park — funded in part by NRPA’s grant program supported by Target— capped a two-year collaboration between the city and local nonprofit Public Art Saint Paul. Public Art St. Paul has curated sculptures for this park since 1998 and infused other public spaces throughout the community with artistic flair, inspiration and imagination.

NRPA-supported projects restore parks to their natural beauty while creating welcoming play areas for children and inclusive gathering spaces for all.

Creating Climate-Resilient Parks Rising global temperatures are causing major changes to the planet. Raging wildfires. Intensifying storms.

Severe droughts and floods. Heat islands that can kill at-risk populations, including people living in poverty, communities of color, older adults and people with disabilities.

Park and recreation professionals manage 11 million acres of public parks and green spaces1 across the country which offer crucial solutions to the challenges of climate change: • Trees provide natural cooling, remove greenhouse gases and filter pollution — already, trees in urban parks remove more than 7 million tons of toxins from the air each year.

• Greenways, grassy areas and gardens in parks, especially along streams, capture and filter stormwater runoff, reducing flooding and pollution.

• Drought-tolerant landscapes and vegetation in arid parks reduce maintenance costs and water consumption.

• Park vegetation provides crucial habitat for pollinators, birds and other species.

Investment Opportunities: Be a Climate Innovator Goal: $5.8 Million Over Three Years 1 https://www.nrpa.org/our-work/building-a-movement/parks-and-recreation-is-essential/

By 2026, park and recreation climate mitigation efforts equitably improve the community living environment and resiliency.

6 in 10 park and recreation facilities adopt green-resilient designs.

5 in 10 agencies adopt green infrastructure/climate mitigation practices.

5 in 10 agencies improve the quality and connectivity of habitats within parks and with the surrounding community.

6 in 10 agencies enhance and expand environmental education programming.

1,600 communities benefit from the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s (FEMA) Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities program.

NRPA is helping park and recreation agencies and professionals nationwide adapt their parks to withstand and even mitigate the effects of a changing climate.

Here are four prime, high-impact funding opportunities: • Provide research, training, tools and certification, so park and recreation agencies can incorporate green infrastructure in their master plans and make their operations and spaces greener and more climate resilient.

• Develop, pilot and scale projects that improve air quality, reduce urban heat-island effects, decrease localized flooding and help communities better prepare, respond and recover from natural disasters and other extreme events.

• Identify career paths and strategies to attract, engage and support future generations of park and recreation professionals by harnessing the green job opportunities emerging in the nationwide quest for climate-ready parks.

• Incentivize local green infrastructure investments to increase resilience and connection to parks.

Restoring an Urban Waterway and Reviving a Neighborhood Atlanta’s west-side English Avenue and Vine City neighborhoods exude new life and renewed vitality thanks to a collaborative partnership and much-needed funding. This historically middle-class Black community experienced decades without investment and saw many homes abandoned and boarded up. Proctor Creek — increasingly bordered by urban developments that couldn’t absorb runoff water — flooded after heavy rains, sometimes sending torrents of sewage-filled stormwater pouring into homes and coursing downstream into the Chattahoochee River.

Now, an innovative collaboration among Atlanta-based Park Pride, The Conservation Fund, Chattahoochee Riverkeeper and NRPA — which provided a $437,500 grant — has transformed a formerly blighted 3.5acre area along the creek into the Kathryn Johnston Memorial Park.

Named to commemorate a 92-year-old grandmother who was killed by police during a botched drug raid in 2006, the park incorporates multiple climate-resilient measures, including native grasses and other plants, rain gardens, stormwater swales and underground chambers that capture 3.5 million gallons of stormwater each year. These features combine to clean and slow runoff, reducing flooding and sewer overflows.

They also create an accessible and inviting green space — one that’s helping connect and revitalize the neighborhoods it serves.

Restoration projects that build climate resilience, improve water quality and increase access to waterways and other parkland breathe new life into communities.

Building the Movement In addition to providing vital services to millions of people, park and recreation agencies generate over $166 billion in U.S. economic activity and support more than 1.1 million jobs from their operations and capital spending.1 Their contribution in every state and multiple U.S. territories is essential to the vitality of our nation.

By 2026,

the role of parks and recreation is recognized as essential to creating and sustaining healthier and more equitable and resilient communities.

250,000 professional development engagements are accessed by park and recreation professionals.

350 park and recreation agencies obtain accreditation through the Commission for Accreditation of Park and Recreation Agencies and the National Recreation and Park Association (NRPA).

The National Recreation and Park Association (NRPA) is dedicated to elevating and investing in close-to-home parks and recreation and the professionals who make these places thrive. We serves as: • A powerful network for more than 165,000 park and recreation professionals working on the frontlines of solving some of our world’s most pressing challenges.

• An agent of quality education for park and recreation professionals. We create a dynamic environment for sharing knowledge, toolkits and evidence-driven, scalable projects that advance equity, improve health and create climate resilience.

• A force multiplier for partnering with community-based and nonprofit organizations, foundations, corporations and generous individuals to drive change and park and recreation models that make a difference.

• An effective national voice for policies and funding that sustain and expand the benefits of parks and recreation to millions nationwide.

$10.5 million is invested in local community grants by NRPA. 250 Park Champions™ launch advocacy action plans at the local, state and federal levels that strengthen communities and improve the quality of life for all people through parks and recreation.

Advocate for passage of federal legislation, including the Improving Social Determinants of Health Act and the RISE from Trauma Act, as well as reauthorization of the Child Nutrition Act and the Older Americans Act.

Partner with us so everyone can enjoy the health and life-enhancing benefits of parks and recreation.

1 http://www.nrpa.org/parkeconreport

Join Us

Be part of our mission on behalf of People, Parks and Planet.

Visit www.nrpa.org or contact us at development@nrpa.org to learn more about how you can get involved.

Thank you for investing in parks and recreation for all.